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The Ford Taurus is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States. Originally introduced in the 1986 model year, it has remained in near-continuous production for more than two decades.

The original Taurus was a milestone design for Ford and the entire American automotive industry, as well as a very influential vehicle that brought many new features and innovations to the marketplace. Since its launch in 1986, Ford had built 7,519,919 Tauruses through the 2007 model year, making it the fifth best selling North American nameplate in Ford's history; only the F-150, Escort, Model T, and Mustang have sold more units. 

Ford revived the Taurus name during the 2007 Chicago Auto Show a few months later by renaming two new models that had been intended to be updated versions of the Five Hundred and the Freestyle, the "2008 Taurus" and "2008 Taurus X", respectively. A new model of Taurus was then released for the 2010 model year.

Fifth generation (2008–2009)

The fifth generation was developed from the Ford Five Hundred, which was scheduled for a significant styling facelift and power upgrade for the 2008 model year. Ford decided to designate that model as the Taurus to take advantage of its customer recognition and dealer demand.  The 2008 Ford Taurus went into production in 2007 as a 2008 model. It was determined that Ford's strategy to redesignate new cars in the lineup with new names beginning with the letter F, as in Ford Focus, Ford Fusion, and Ford Freestyle, was not a good marketing move, as some of the renamed cars had highly recognizable iconic names. Car buyers in the U.S. did not associate the new F names with Ford, and were confused by the name changes.  Mulally believed that the Taurus had an immediately strong brand equity, and that it would take years for consumers to have a similar recognition of the Five Hundred.

There were more than 500 changes to the new Taurus from the existing Five Hundred, including a new front end and the 263 hp 3.5 L Duratec 35 V6, which replaces the 203 hp Duratec 30 3.0 L V6. The Five Hundred / Freestyle's ZF-Batavia CVT, which had a maximum torque rating of 221 lb·ft, was also replaced with a Ford six-speed automatic with additional torque of the Duratec 35. The Aisin AW six-speed automatic which was used on FWD Five Hundred and Montegos was also replaced by the new six-speed.  For the 2009 model year, Ford revived the "SE" trimline for the Taurus. The SE sold for $24,125 according to Ford's website and served as the base model for the vehicle.

Sixth generation (2010–present)

The 2010 Ford Taurus was revealed at the Detroit International Auto Show in 2009 at Cobo Hall.  The press preview of the Taurus and Taurus SHO was held in Asheville, North Carolina, from June 15 to June 19, 2009.

The Ford scored well in test drives and the media was pleased with some of the new features available in the 2010 Ford Taurus.  Some of these features include all wheel drive, cross traffic alert, collision warning, blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control. 

The base price of the base SE model is $25,995. The mid grade SEL is priced at $27,995, and the top level Limited, at $31,995. Ford hopes to achieve a mix of 10% to 15% with its high-performance SHO model.

The Ford Taurus SHO, released in August, 2009, is the high-performance version of the Ford Taurus.  The SHO is powered by Ford's new EcoBoost 3.5L V6 engine. The twin-turbocharged, gasoline direct injection power plant has 365 horsepower (272 kW) and 350 lb·ft (470 N·m) of torque. The EcoBoost V6 achieves the same fuel economy as the base 3.5L V6. The Taurus SHO base price is $37,995 which includes the EcoBoost V6, all wheel drive, upgraded 6-speed automatic transmission and numerous exterior and interior trim upgrades. A fully loaded SHO will be $45,000. 

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